Our Initiative on Skills for Sustainable Futures
Our Initiative on Skills for Sustainable Futures
Siam University’s Graduate School of Education is spearheading an initiative on Skills for Sustainable Futures — an integrated platform for research, policy dialogue, and institutional innovation addressing the digital and green transformation of education and TVET systems across the ASEAN region.
Rapid digitalisation, climate transition, demographic ageing, and widening inequalities are reshaping labour markets worldwide. Yet most education systems still treat digital skills and green competencies as separate agendas. Our initiative bridges this gap by advancing an integrated approach that equips learners, educators, and institutions with the combined digital–green competencies required by emerging economies.
The initiative is structured around five interconnected pillars:
Pillar 1 — Global Dialogue and Policy Foresight
An annual International Forum on Skills for Sustainable Futures brings together policymakers, universities, TVET institutions, industry leaders, civil society, and youth from across the globe to exchange knowledge, share innovations, and shape the international policy agenda on future skills. The Forum is complemented by an Annual International Report on Skills for Sustainable Futures, providing comparative foresight analysis of emerging skills demands driven by digitalisation and ecological transition.
Pillar 2 — Research and Innovation for Skills Transformation
An Open Research and Innovation Platform, anchored by a Skills Innovation Center, pilots new models of digital–green curriculum integration, industry–education collaboration, and technology-enabled pedagogy. The platform generates case studies, policy toolkits, and applied research findings for use by ministries, universities, and TVET institutions across ASEAN and beyond.
Pillar 3 — Joint Graduate Education and Knowledge Development
Through joint doctoral research clusters, co-supervision arrangements, annual graduate summer schools, and academic mobility programmes, we build the next generation of researchers and practitioners equipped to lead inclusive and sustainable skills transformation. Partner institutions include universities in Malaysia, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Pillar 4 — Open Knowledge and Digital Learning Ecosystems
An Intelligent Open Educational Resources (OER) Center provides 40–50 open-access learning modules on digital literacy, green competencies, transversal skills, and foundational learning. Developed in partnership with the Office of the Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) of Thailand — which already deploys Siam University’s e-learning modules across its national network of vocational colleges — the platform is designed to reach over 10,000 learners and support approximately 800 educators by the end of the programme period. All materials are released under Creative Commons licences, fully aligned with UNESCO’s Recommendation on Open Educational Resources.
Pillar 5 — Inclusive Capacity Building for Lifelong Learning
Targeted professional development, reskilling, and upskilling initiatives serve educators, institutional leaders, ageing workers, women in STEM and green sectors, and persons with disabilities. Delivered through the initiative’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hub and partnerships with OVEC Thailand, Kenan Foundation Asia, Save the Children Thailand, and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).
Involvement with UNESCO
Siam University has built a sustained and multifaceted engagement with UNESCO that underpins the academic and institutional foundations of this initiative.
Regional Alignment
The initiative has engaged in substantive consultation with UNESCO Bangkok (Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific) on alignment with UNESCO’s planned green jobs and green skills mapping initiative for the ASEAN region. The initiative is positioned to contribute complementary research capacity, TVET-specific empirical evidence, and institutional networks to support this broader UNESCO regional programme.
Host City Recognition
Siam University is located in Bangkok, a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities — reinforcing the local anchoring of the initiative within a UNESCO-recognised framework for lifelong learning and urban educational development.
Global Forum
The International Forum on Skills for Sustainable Futures is the flagship convening platform of the initiative — an annual global dialogue that brings together leading voices from policy, academia, industry, civil society, and international organisations to advance shared solutions for inclusive and sustainable skills transformation.
Purpose
The Forum provides a dedicated international space for:
- Exchanging evidence and innovations on digital and green skills integration
- Shaping policy agendas aligned with UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework and TVET Strategy 2022–2029
- Connecting ASEAN education systems with global knowledge networks
- Engaging youth as co-contributors to future skills dialogue
Format and Scale
Each Forum is designed to convene participants from at least 35 countries, combining plenary sessions, thematic panels, youth innovation tracks, and policy roundtables. Co-organised with UNESCO Bangkok and UNESCO-IIEP, the Forum is timed to complement the release of the Annual International Report on Skills for Sustainable Futures.
| Year | Thematic Focus |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | The Digital–Green Skills Nexus: Frameworks and Evidence |
| Year 2 | Labour Market Foresight: Emerging Skills Demands in ASEAN |
| Year 3 | Systems Change: Institutional Models for TVET Transformation (+ International Conference) |
| Year 4 | Inclusive Futures: Lifelong Learning, Equity, and Resilience |
Annual International Report on Skills for Sustainable Futures
Produced in partnership with UNESCO-IIEP and launched at each Forum (Years 2–4), the Report provides comparative foresight analysis of:
- Emerging skills demands driven by digitalisation and ecological transition
- Policy innovations in education and TVET systems across ASEAN and partner regions
- Case studies of institutional transformation
- Inclusion indicators disaggregated by gender, age, and disability
World Youth Skills Day
Forum activities are coordinated annually with World Youth Skills Day (15 July), amplifying youth engagement and visibility on international platforms.
TVET Leadership Capacity Building
A central commitment of the initiative is to strengthen the capacity of TVET institutions, educators, and leaders to navigate and lead digital and green transformation. Our capacity-building programmes combine professional development, institutional innovation pilots, and inclusive reskilling initiatives across Thailand and the ASEAN region.
Professional Development for Educators and Institutional Leaders
The initiative’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hub delivers workshops, seminars, and blended learning programmes for TVET educators and institutional managers, targeting 800 educators over the programme period. Programmes are delivered through partner institutions under the Office of the Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) and the Association of Private TVET Institutions under Royal Patronage.
Core areas include:
- Integrating digital and green competencies into vocational curricula
- AI-enabled pedagogy and technology-enhanced instruction
- Institutional governance for sustainability
- Gender-responsive and inclusive teaching practices
Institutional Innovation Pilots
Working with 5–8 selected TVET institutions under OVEC, the initiative will implement pilots in:
- Curriculum greening — embedding environmental competencies into existing vocational qualifications across the service sector, engineering, logistics, construction, and agriculture
- Digital transformation — supporting institutions in adopting AI-enabled learning platforms and data-driven management systems
Pilot results will be documented as case studies and incorporated into the initiative’s global research compendium.
Reskilling for Ageing Workers
In collaboration with Save the Children Thailand and Kenan Foundation Asia, targeted reskilling programmes will be co-designed for adults aged 45 and above working in sectors undergoing green transition — including logistics, construction, and agriculture — to be piloted in Year 2 and scaled in Years 3–4.
Women and Girls in STEM and Green Sectors
Initiatives supporting the participation of women and girls in STEM, digital, and green sectors will be coordinated with the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), the initiative’s gender advisor Asst. Prof. Dr. Prapaporn Tivayanond Mongkhonvanit. Participation targets will be disaggregated and reported annually.
Open Access to Learning
Through the Intelligent OER Center, all capacity-building content will be made available as open-access digital modules — translated into Thai, Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia, and Vietnamese — and designed using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to ensure full accessibility for learners with disabilities, low-literacy users, and ageing workers.
Micro-credential pathways for educators and learners will be mapped to the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) and aligned with national qualifications frameworks in Thailand and Malaysia, facilitating formal recognition of professional development achievements.